Image Up Advertising & Design

| OHCC LIVING | MAY 2022 | 17 Save The Monarch Butterfly Yes! They came! The Butterfly Sanctuary Site began receiving it first guests in mid-March. Many of the scarce Monarchs in the state have found their way to us. After planting more than a hundred milkweed plants, we saw our first caterpillars the week of March 21. Each day, nearby residents told us about the Monarchs visiting in the morning and late afternoon. We have spotted hundreds of eggs and have counted 18 caterpillars as of April 1. We have surrounded the large ones with mesh cages to keep birds from having them for lunch. As is always the case with nature, complexities arise. We discovered that baby rattlesnakes like caterpillars for lunch, too. Our steadfast Director, Susan Cooke, has tended them daily as if they were her own children. We invite you to visit them, but please don't touch them or allow your pets to disturb them. They are eating feverishly to get to their chrysalis stage. Soon, we hope to have our own Monarch community! O'Connell has helped by retrofitting the irrigation to cover the entire garden; now we will be able to plant more flowers to entice the Monarchs' friends and provide more color to the site. Hopefully, we will soon have a fence to stop the luncheons, Many home gardeners are reporting eggs and caterpillars on their plants as well. As has been the case from the start, the community has been incredibly generous in helping us with this project. We held a fund-raising raffle for a gorgeous butterfly purse and received more than $800 from it. We had two tables at the OHCC Flea Market where we featured supplies for home gardeners at one, and odds and ends at the other. Both had homemade baked goods (also from volunteers), and we had another successful venture. We now have nearly 250 members, and residents have stopped us on the street to give us donations or slipped checks in the Clubhouse envelope. We cannot thank you enough. Theatre Arts Finally – FINALLY – we're slowly getting the activities up and running again! Big thanks go to our program coordinator, Lisa Malec, who is hustling to get us entertained and engaged. On May 2, we will be entertained by musicians, Pete and Cecilia Wilkinson "The Suburbans" who played and sang music from the 50s and 60s. Get ready for some toe- tapping and singalongs! Our April 4 performance by the dance troupe from Mira Costa College was just terrific – and very well-received. We are proud to announce that we have commissioned a local, award-winning playwright and will be performing a brand-new play, "Dowagers," in October! Auditions will be held in July. Stay tuned. Our next dinner dance will be on June 6; details to follow. Sally Benton's Actors' Workshop and Readers' Theatre is currently focusing on monologues and accepting new students. Members are invited learn new techniques and skills — and enjoy! Contact Sally (moki2@cox.net) for information on how to apply. Classes are Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 pm, in the Majorca Room. Join Theatre Arts so you can participate in all of our entertainment and activities. Please bring your check made out to "OH Theatre Arts," to the front desk. Be certain to include your name, address, phone number, email address on the check. Our next Board meeting is scheduled for May 18 at 11 am. Check with the front desk for the room assignment. Board meetings are open to all members, so please do come and join us. Check out our new and improved website, where you can read of our activities, read past OHCC Living articles, and explore our past and future productions. http://www.ohccdg.wixsite.com/theatrearts. Winner of the Save the Monarch Butterfly Club

• Cover